Mr. Jeff Charbonneau

“Celebrating education is not something that we see often in the media, as journalists are usually caught up reporting violence in schools or program and budget cuts. That wasn’t the case on April 23, 2013.

Much like the cool breeze that swept across the White House Rose Garden that day, there was hope in the day’s fresh air when President Barack Obama welcomed our country’s 54 greatest educators named in this year’s National Teacher of the Year Program from each state and four territories.

My own anticipation of visiting the White House for this event reminded me of the anticipation as a kid when my parents broke the news of our first trip to Disneyland: “WOW! I am really going?!” (pitter-patter, pitter-patter… que tossing and turning in bed the night before).”…..

NEA Today – “Speaking to nearly 9,000 fellow educators gathered at the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, the 2013 National Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau proclaimed to the enthusiastic crowd that, make no mistake, there is much to be proud about public education in the United States.”

High school teacher Jeff Charbonneau is a man on a mission. He wants to make chemistry and physics and engineering—the “hard” sciences he teaches at Zillah High School in Zillah, Wash.—more accessible and more engaging for students. He does that by creating interactive learning experiences, like the Zillah Robot Challenge, to help students learn and develop confidence in their abilities.